John Dean: "Bush's greatest problem is Harriet Miers. I doubt she is ready to go to prison for him."

[seafan]

From John Dean, on March 23, 2007:

.....

This time, it is my belief that Bush -- unlike Reagan before him -- will not blink. He will not let Fielding strike a deal, as Fielding did for Reagan. Rather, Bush feels that he has his manhood on the line. He knows what his conservative constituency wants: a strong president who protects his prerogatives. He believes in the unitary executive theory of protecting those prerogatives, and of strengthening the presidency by defying Congress.

In short, all those who have wanted to see Karl Rove in jail may get their wish, for he will not cave in, either -- and may well be prosecuted for contempt, as Gorsuch was not. Bush's greatest problem here, however, is Harriett Miers. It is dubious he can exert any privilege over a former White House Counsel; I doubt she is ready to go to prison for him; and all who know her say if she is under oath, she will not lie. That could be a problem.

Former White House Officials Miers, Taylor Subpoenaed (Update1)

, June 13, 2007

June 13 (Bloomberg) -- Congressional committees investigating the firings of U.S. attorneys subpoenaed President George W. Bush's former White House counsel, Harriet Miers, and his ex-political director, Sara Taylor, to testify about their roles in the dismissals.


The House and Senate Judiciary Committees are investigating whether the prosecutors were fired last year for improper political motivations, such as to spur investigations of Democrats or stall those of Republicans.
The House panel, which previously authorized a subpoena for Miers's testimony, is issuing the subpoena for her testimony, Melanie Roussell, a spokeswoman for the panel, said in an e-mail. Taylor was subpoenaed by the Senate committee, the panel said in a statement. Miers and Taylor left the Bush administration earlier this year.


``This subpoena is not a request, it is a demand on behalf of the American people for the White House to make available the documents and individuals we are requesting to help us answer the questions that remain,'' House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers of Michigan said in a statement.
``The breadcrumbs in this investigation have always led to 1600 Pennsylvania,'' Conyers said. ``This investigation will not end until the White House complies.''

.....


E-mails turned over to Congress yesterday also show that Miers resisted suggestions that the Bush administration explain the firings to Congress in January after lawmakers first began raising questions about the dismissals.
In a Jan. 16 e-mail to her deputy, William Kelley, Miers opposed the suggestion that senators be briefed privately about the reasons for the firings.

.....


``I am quite surprised that we would engage on whether a personnel action on a presidential appointment is justified,'' Miers said in an e-mail to Kelley that day.
``I would really like to hear one precedent where we have been willing to discuss negatives about a person that is comparable to this situation,'' Miers wrote in a follow-up message. ``The individuals aren't saying anything public. Senators are. Then we are going to go out and say negative things about these people?''


Two days later, Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he wouldn't fire anyone for political reasons. He declined to discuss the details of the firings in his Senate testimony, saying he didn't want to air personnel matters publicly.

Still, a month later, Taylor criticized Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty's Senate testimony because he didn't criticize the performance of one dismissed U.S. attorney, H.E. ``Bud'' Cummins. Cummins, the U.S. attorney in Little Rock, Arkansas, was replaced by a former aide to Karl Rove, Bush's top political adviser.

``McNulty refuses to say Bud is lazy -- which is why we got rid of him in the first place,'' Taylor wrote.

Slowly and methodically drawing back the protective skirts of the women who shield a war criminal...


Ms. Rice, your time is about up.

[tridim]

1. Disagree, Harriet will do ANYTHING for her man

Anything. It's obvious she's in love with him.

[Frustratedlady]

7. I agree, for the most part...

however, something keeps nagging at the back of my mind on her resignation. What crisis was coming up at that time? These old brain cells don't answer as quickly as they used to. I seem to remember having a gut feeling he was kicking her out (aka, her resigning) as her presence might be embarrassing. Anyone remember?

[WorseBeforeBetter]

23. I think it's a function of the sheer volume of scandals-du-jour, rather than...

"old brain cells"! Mine are almost middle-aged and I can't keep up. It was around October 2005 - the Plame leak?

[Frustratedlady]

33. My gosh, time goes fast but wasn't it just last year when she resigned?

You're right...it is sheer volume of scandals. No wonder they hired 22 more lawyers.

[roguevalley]

21. perhaps. but I don't think so. I believe her religious views are

so strongly ingrained, it would take a handwritten note from God to break that commandment. also, I don't believe a woman her age, alone and making her own way would risk prison.

[Supersedeas]

24. I agree....for the smartest man in the world, she would fry Dem babies

[indepat]

26. Absolutely anything at all

[Bake]

29. I think she'd do ALMOST anything for Bushie Boy.

Almost. Lie for him? Sure. Come down with amnesia? Hell yeah. But go to prison? I think that one's over the line, and I don't think she'd do that. Why?

Because at heart, she's not strong. Would a strong woman swoon so over the Boy King that she'd write gushy, high-school yearbook type stuff to him?

No. Not even close.

She won't go to jail for him, because she's weak. When confronted by those nasty Dems in Congress, she'll wilt like last week's day lily.

Bake

[indepat]

30. Bake, hope you are right, er correct, and Miers wilts like the wicked witch

[Richard Steele]

27. I disagree.

We've all seen those various notes she sent him over the years,
and they are held as evidence that she is a small intellect
with a schoolgirl crush on Dubya.

I think that's a misinterpretation of the evidence.

It seems that Harriet actually got through College
and Law School on her own merits, way back when.
She's not stupid. No "legacy admission" or "gentleman's C"
necessary.

And with all the fetid CRAP covering every member of this
misAdministration, Harriet has somehow managed to maintain
the "cleanest" public image of any of them, despite being
hip-deep in the same bucket of slime.

No, I think she's smart and politically savvy.

The notes don't reflect a fawning sycophant addressing
someone she has a crush on-
they reflect a smart, ambitious woman addressing a superior
whom she knew to be immature, barely literate, and subject to flattery.

The notes aren't "childish" because -she- is childish, they
are childish because she was writing them to a CHILD.

I think she's much smarter than Dubya ever knew, and
a lot less "loyal" than she led him to believe.
Putting her under oath just might be a real breakthrough
in exposing and ending BushCabal™s criminal enterprises.

[tridim]

28. I hope you're right

but I still think she's an idiot. I know lots of licensed lawyers who are dumb as rocks.

Remember, she accepted the SCOTUS nomination and she actually thought she was qualified.

[yardwork]

31. I think that you may be right about her political savvy, but....

in that case, she has made a lot of money off this administration, and she might be willing to go to prison for a short time to protect billions in off-shore bank accounts.

I think that the bottom line for everyone in this administration is money. The smart ones have made billions.

[Bucky]

2. Is Sara Taylor the model for the character "Princess" from That's My Bush?

And am I free to hazard a guess as to which law school Ms Taylor went to?

And for that matter, is this what they meant by the grownups being back in charge?

[Dr.Phool]

3. From the White House to Leavenworth, in two easy steps.

[tularetom]

4. LOL - looks like he's checkin out her butt

and she looks like an aging cocktail waitress.

[Solly Mack]

5. So she will suddenly regain honor and integrity because she's out of office?

She has a problem lying under oath but not a problem aiding in the corruption of the Justice Department for Bush?

[guitar man]

6. caption

(george*) "I'd hit that"

[rurallib]

8. "Damn this woman is stupid. And she loves me."

[Dogmudgeon]

9. Sara Taylor is lookin' MIGHTY stressed

The mouth and chin say "I mo' bite you" but the eyes and forehead say "please, Daddy, not the belt!"

She's going to need some serious medication.

--p!

[Warpy]

10. While I realize John Dean has insights into these folks

from personal experience, my own take is that no one is vetted by Rove who isn't ready and willing to go to prison to protect the duopoly.

Consider her gushing praise, her adoring eyes. The woman is completely besotted and likely to remain so.

She most certainly would go to prison for him.

[Marr]

11. I agree. Besides,

like Libby, her legal fees will be paid by the right-wing political machine, and they'll just draw it out until Bush issues a pardon on his way out of office.

Dean seems to be looking at this group like it's a governmental bureaucracy. It's more like a mafia operation. You stay loyal to the family, and the family stays loyal to you.

[dflprincess]

12. I don't know, he pretty much used her loyalty and set her up for national ridicule

when he nominated her to the Supreme Court. Then, there's all the tabloid rumors about Bush and Condi that I absolutely refuse to repeat :evilgrin: It's not impossible that she's come to her senses. I just hope she stays safe.

[louis-t]

13. I don't agree, she did say he was the most brilliant man

she'd ever met. :eyes: Idolatry doesn't wear off that easily.

[KoKo]

14. Thanks for Posting that. I hope John Dean is Correct...but we've never

seem people like those in the Bush Administration before... Watching Luretta Doan's testimony where she treated the Dem Judiciary Committee members like sport...laughing them off making a joke of them...leads me to believe that this administration is filled with sociopaths who have no remorse, ability to comprehend any ethical standards or even abide by the law. To them the only law is the "House of Republicanism" and whatever Leader they can find to dictate their views.

As unethical as the Nixon WH was...there were still Repugs who weren't part of a "cult." :-(

[WinkyDink]

15. Harriet Miers is this century's Rosemary Woods.

[dogday]

16. Stand by your man and lie your ass off for him

He will pardon you in the end

Stand by your man.....

(Sung to the tune of Stand By Your Man)

[endarkenment]

17. WH proclaims Executive Privilege

DOJ refuses to enforce subpoenas.

Congress goes to court. Appeals court suggests WH is full of shit. SC, more full of shit than the WH, rejects appeals court suggestion. Congress puts on best pouty face. Bullshit Media System smirks. DU party loyalists declare victory! DU skeptics declare shennanigans! The war continues. The crap continues. The turd that is all that is left of our republic swirls in the bowl as it is flushed out to sea.

[firefox_fan]

18. Doesn't she look like Rachel Dratch from SNL?

[Blackhatjack]

19. I tell you Miers has more to fear from Bush & Co than from testifying before Congress....

She may very well need private body guards until she testifies.

[Straight Shooter]

20. Miers is caught between a dumb-as-a-rock and a hard place

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/54356.html

"Miers rejoins Locke Liddell & Sapp as a partner on May 1, associated with the firm's public policy and litigation group. She will be based in Washington, Dallas and Austin, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Friday."

Locke Liddell & Sapp is a big firm with great *cough* prestige. If her reputation goes up in flames, they are tainted by association with her, as she plays a high-profile role in their firm.

From their web site, the White Collar Defense Team:
http://www.lockeliddell.com/services/ServiceDetail.aspx?service=270

Representing corporations and their officers and employees in white collar criminal matters, related investigations and enforcement proceedings is an essential practice area at Locke Liddell & Sapp. Whether it is a grand jury investigation, a criminal environmental matter or allegations relating to securities fraud, our lawyers have often represented clients in these areas. We also have vast amounts of experience in anti-trust enforcement, option back-dating, public corruption, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, export/import criminal violations, bank fraud, commercial bribery, money laundering, forfeitures, computer fraud and any other business or economic crimes,

We combine a multi-disciplinary team of attorneys with substantial experience in the prosecution and defense of these type cases. As well, we have a good working relationship with many of the prosecutors and other enforcement agencies who represent federal, state and local government in these areas.

Locke Liddell’s White Collar Defense Group is chaired by Robert J. Sussman who has prosecuted and defended white collar crime throughout his career. Prior to his more than 30 years of practicing criminal defense law, he was an Assistant District Attorney, heading the Harris County District Attorney’s Consumer Fraud and Pollution Divisions. Subsequent to that, he was the director of the National Economic Crime Project in Washington, D.C. He has defended criminal cases involving practically all aspects of white collar crime. He has also been hired by companies to conduct internal investigations and compliance efforts.

Ha ha ha ha ha!!

[glitch]

22. "if she's under oath, she won't lie" but if she's not under oath...

she'll be ever so happy to lie and lie and lie? Who ARE these people?

[The Stranger]

25. Say, kids! What time is it?

It's Howdy-Doody Time!

[Disturbed]

32. When she refuses to appear what will Conyers do about it?

Subpoenas mean nothing if they cannot be enforced.

[Octafish]

34. I couldn't K&R this fast enough...

...Harriet should consider the Witness Protection Program.